Tuesday, 8 January 2013

Watz Online - 8 Jan 2013

Foreign lawyers' pool grew 42% in 6 years

The number of foreign lawyers here has grown faster than that of local ones in the last six years, said Law Society president Lok Vi Ming yesterday.

Speaking at the opening of the new legal year, he said: "The spectacular growth of the number of foreign lawyers practising in Singapore emphasises the need for our foreign brethren to lock hands with local lawyers, not in competition, but in cooperation and integration."

There are more than 4,300 local lawyers practising here today, he said, after the total number of lawyers here grew "steadily" over the last six years and the number of local lawyers passed the 4,000 mark for the first time last year.read more

Singapore To Remain Malaysia's Most Important Source Of Foreign Tourist Arrivals

Tourism Malaysia expects Singapore to remain the most important source of foreign tourist arrivals in Malaysia, registering more than 50 per cent of total arrivals annually.

Its director for Singapore, Zalizam Zakaria, said more Singaporeans were expected to visit Malaysia in the coming years, especially during Visit Malaysia Year 2013-2014.

Opposition politician Dr Vincent Wijeysingha has apologised to Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan—Jin for comments deemed as defamatory about him in an article on the illegal strike by SMRT bus drivers from China.

The article, "’You can resign and go to SBS,’ the drivers were told", was posted on his own Facebook page on December 2 last year.

Sovereign wealth fund Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) has bought PGA West and La Quinta Resort & Club (pictured), along with several other high-end golf courses, for US$1.5 billion (S$1.84 billion) from a group led by US-based hedge fund Paulson & Co.

Under the purchase agreement, PGA West’s six courses, comprising 109 holes, will remain PGA-branded until 2061. Paulson & Co will also transfer the licensing agreement to GIC’s property investment division, according to Gary Sims, Managing Director of La Quinta Resort & Club and PGA West, a top-calibre golf destination known for its colourful Hollywood history.

“We had an existing license agreement with PGA of America that dates back to the early 80s and the original development here. But that licensing agreement (for PGA West’s six courses) was reaching its expiration about the time this ownership change took place. We renegotiated that agreement and extended it another 50 years.”